


"you're practically dr. House"

by Fredagsmys



Series: Jugpea for the win [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie Andrews is a Good Friend, Chronic Pain, M/M, Mobility Aids, Protective FP Jones II, Protective Sweet Pea (Riverdale), Riot night, walking cane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:07:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25186876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fredagsmys/pseuds/Fredagsmys
Summary: Jughead's run in with Penny and the Ghoulies had some long term consequences, and he has to learn that it's not weak to need a little help.
Relationships: FP Jones II & Jughead Jones, FP Jones II & Sweet Pea, Jughead Jones/Sweet Pea
Series: Jugpea for the win [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824586
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	"you're practically dr. House"

**Author's Note:**

> There's no way Jughead could walk away from riot night without long term injuries...so this was created...
> 
> I wanna say that I am in no way a medical professional nor do I need mobility aids, so I am sorry if anyhting is innacurate and/or unrealistic
> 
> I don't mean to offend anyone, but please inform me if I did

  
  


Everyone was amazed at Jughead’s speedy recovery after being beaten to pulp on riot night. A week and a half in hospital, another on the couch at home, and then he was up and walking again, albeit still in pain. He’d said it had faded quickly though, and most people seemed to believe him, or they just simply didn't care. Sweet Pea was unconvinced though. He and Jughead got together officially while the smaller one had still been bedridden, and he’d seen how bad the pain could get when not numbed by vicodin, which he hated taking. But after a few months had gone by, he was starting to believe Jug when he said he was recovered. There was one thing contradicting that though. Sometimes he would walk weirdly, almost as if he was limping, but then it would go back to normal before anyone could even point it out. It didn’t happen all the time, but enough for Sweet Pea to keep an eye out for it. He didn’t get a chance to call his boyfriend out on it though. Not until the summer was over. 

He was waiting for his boyfriend in the hallway, like he did most days. Even when they weren’t going to hang out afterwards, it was always nice to have a little chat and a kiss at the end of the day. It was a sweet tradition, which they both cherished, especially now. This time Jughead didn’t see Sweet Pea at first though, and there it was again, the limp. It hadn’t been noticeable for a long time, and it almost started to seem as if it had been nothing but an illusion form an overprotective boyfriend. But now it seemed to appear right before he saw Sweets standing there. He called out for him, only to see him straighten up and immediately lose the limp, meaning it wasn’t an illusion, he had just been hiding it. _Typical Jug_

“Hey Sweets, missed ya” Jughead’s voice sounded slightly strained but he smiled nonetheless.

“Missed Ya too” Sweet Pea couldn’t resist returning the smile, as it was one of his favorite sights. But he had a mission now which he had to get right onto. “You were limping again, want to tell me what happened?”

Jugheads eyes fell. “It’s nothing”, he mumbled.

“It’s not nothing. Seeing you in pain is never nothing”, Sweets answered, slightly alarmed that he was turning into a sap.

Jughead picked up on that. Of course he did, the little fucker.

“Oh Sweets is soft today I see”

“Don’t avoid the question” 

“Well… you already know what happened” Jughead mumbled and looked away.

“You’re talking about _her,_ aren’t you?” He refused to say Penny Peabody’s name out loud, like it was toxic or would make her reappear.

“mhm”

“You said...that was months ago, you said you were recovered?”

“I thought I was, and I am... for the most part, it’s just that my knee still bothers me sometimes, and my hip i guess”

“Have you been back to the doctors?”

“It’s really not a big deal... and I don’t want to bother my dad with more medical bills, we’re still paying off the ones from last time.” Jughead admitted.

That was something Sweet Pea could definitely understand, albeit very bitterly. It wasn’t uncommon among the serpents, or anyone at sunnyside for that matter, and it wasn’t as if he could help his boyfriend out in that department either, sadly.

“Besides I’m sure it’ll pass” Jughead continued, shaking his leg and flashing a strained smile.

Sweets was far from convinced, but he knew better than to make his boyfriend clam up completely. “Look...just tell me when you’re in pain okay? I promise not to go overboard”

Jughead raised an eyebrow. “You not going overboard? I’ll believe it when I see it”

“Pffftt! I’m collected as hell”

“Need I remind you of you continuing to carry me too and from the bathroom even after I was off bedrest? Oh and lets not forget three weeks ago when I had the tiniest fever and you insisted on not letting me do anything but sleep or when-”

“Okay fine! I tend to go overboard, but it’s just cause...you know...I care”

“I know Sweets, I care about you too” Jughead was smiling again, less strained this time,

“Then tell me when you’re in pain. Please, for me?” Sweets pleaded and grabbed his boyfriends hand. 

Jughead rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. But like I said, I’m sure it’ll pass soon enough”

* * *

It didn’t pass. Several more months went by. Archie got out of prison, Jughead’s mom both came and left, this time leaving his little sister behind and Sweet Pea almost lost the two most important people in his life, again. Fangs to that stupid cult and Jughead to Penelope fucking Blossom of all people. So it was safe to say that he had had a lot on his plate. But as early summer came around and things started to calm down again, he cornered a once again limping Jughead in the corridor. 

“You’re getting worse, why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’ve had other things to wo-”

“Shut it Jug, I don’t care how busy shit gets, you need to take care of yourself and you need to be honest with me, stop running yourself to the fucking ground!”

“I’m sorry…”

“You have to see a doctor now, it's been over a year. And FP’s got a stable job now and you even moved out of the trailer park, you can afford it.” Sweets said, calming down slightly.

Jughead just sighed. “Come with me?”

“Of course”

* * *

“What’s on your minds boys?” FP asked walking into the living room. “Your text said you wanted to talk?”

“Yeah well..,my knee isn’t getting any better dad” Jughead mumbled, clutching Sweet Pea’s hand next to him on the couch.

“What do you mean? Getting better from what?”

“You know...from riot night”

FP’s sat up straighter in the armchair. “It’s still bothering you? You never said anything? I never noticed...”

“He’s been hiding it FP, I had to drag it out of him” Sweet Pea chimed in before Jughead could say anything.

Jughead turned his head towards him to glare, but Sweet Pea just stuck his tounge out in response.

“How much does i hurt boy?” FP asked.

“It depends on the day and what i’m doing and stuff. But it’s been getting worse lately”

“Because he’s been walking around like nothing” Sweet Pea scolded him, but with no real harshness in his voice.

“I’ll make a doctors appointment for you, and that’s not negotiable.”

“Yeah thats what I wanted actually, thanks dad”

“You really need to tell me if you’re hurting Jug” FP’s voice turned softer. “I know I haven’t been the best at taking care of you in the past but I’m here now. And you’ve got Sweets too.”

“I know dad, I’m sorry.”

“What the hell are you sorry for boy? You’ve spent more than half your life more or less on your own, it’s in your nature...I should have checked in with you even if you didn’t say anything”

“Really dad, it’s fine I do-”

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, and that goes for you to Sweet Pea, come to me when somethings bothering you. No matter what, it’s no serpents left behind right?”

Sweet Pea was moved by the words of his former leader. They were always so rough with each other in the gang, it was nice to see some softness. He turned to Jughead and smiled, everything was gonna be fine.

* * *

  
  


They were wrong, everything wasn’t going to be fine. There was not much to do about it the doctor said. Just physical therapy, and some guidelines about taking it a easy when the pain was particularly bad and popping pain meds as needed. Sweet Pea knew how Jughead felt about pain meds. Especially prescription ones. It had been a struggle getting him to calmly take the vicodin last time.

“That can’t be right?! There must be something you can do! Can’t you tell he’s in pain for god's sake?” Sweet Pea snapped, getting closer to the doctor.

Jughead grabbed his shoulder, holding him back. “Sweets you need to calm down”

“I’m not gonna calm down! You need to help my boyfriend! Didn’t they teach you anything in that stupid med school?”

“Sweets stop it, please”

“You’re all just a bunch of money grabbing assh-”

He was removed from the room before he could finish his sentence. Apparently, Security at Riverdale general arrives very fast when the doctors page them. Those bastards. 

FP was sitting in the waiting room, and looked up at Sweet Pea in confusion as was escorted out. 

“What the hell happened? where’s Jug?”

“His brother will be back out when he’s done, but this one was causing trouble.”

“He’s my boyfriend you dick, and that stupid doctor doesn’t even want to help him” 

“Sweet Pea calm the fuck down” FP looked at the guard. “I’ll take it from here, thank you”

The guards had probably intended to remove him from the premises completely, but didn’t seem to mind leaving the responsibility of him to the town sheriff. 

“Now tell me what’s going on?”

“They said they couldn’t really do much for him” Sweets looked down. “I just...I don’t like seeing him in pain, knowing I can’t help”

FP’s eyes fell too. “Wait what, there's nothing?”

“Just physical therapy and taking it easy...I don’t think that’s even in his vocabulary”

“We’ll make sure to squeeze it right in”

* * *

The summer went by and Jughead wasn’t really getting any better with the physical therapy. At least not painwise, but he did learn better ways to walk and relax both the hip and knee. It was something at least. Sweet Pea drove him every thursday on his motorcycle, and waited outside till he was done. Sometimes he had to let the Andrews boy take him in his truck though, when it was raining too much. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t come along to pick him up, actually making him and Archie bond a little. Emphasis on _a little,_ since they spent most of the drive bickering.

But clumsy as Jughead was he eventually ended up falling down a flight of stairs, injuring his other knee. That one was very temporary, but he ended up having to use a pair of crutches for a few weeks which actually lead to something good. As frustrated as Sweet Pea was over his boyfriend not being able to, you know, go anywhere without getting himself hurt, he was actually happy to see how much the crutches helped him. He could make his way around much quicker and he seemed happier, and didn’t need to take the pain meds as often. Not that he was comfortable taking them before either but it was still nice to see. 

Sweet Pea brought it up in the waiting room at the hospital when they were supposed to return the crutches.

“You know...you could always just use those crutches to help with your other knee and the hip” 

“Pffft as if”

“I can tell it’s been helping you” he tried again.

“I don’t need crutches Sweets just drop it”

“Jug just consider it...you’re in pain almost all the time, I can tell. And you’ve seemed happier now with the crutches”

“I know but I-”

“You are not weak for needing something that helps you out” His voice turned softer. “It doesn’t make you a burden and us serpents will not think any differently of you...I can’t speak for your more stuck up northsider friends but-”

“They’re not stuck up...okay maybe sometimes” Jughead said, laughing a little as the tension lowered.

“Babe, I really hate seeing you limping around in pain.”

“Turns out that’s what life is gonna be like from now on huh?” Jughead tried to keep cool but he was blushing deeply at Sweet Pea’s use of the word babe. He’d never called him that before.

“If there is something that helps, like actually helps, why not shove your pride away and use it? Do you think lowly of other people with mobility aids?”

“No, but others do”

“Screw “others”, if you mean the north side, their opinions don’t matter. You’re a fucking gang leader”

“I mean i guess i could... consider it...maybe”

Sweet Pea took that as a win.

* * *

There was no getting jughead to use crutches on a daily basis, but they did manage to convince him to get a cane for the days where walking was particularly difficult. A sleek black quad one, not too noticeable but still offering good support. As well as a knee brace, which actually made pretty big difference. 

At first he only used the cane around other serpents, and Archie, Veronica and Betty. But it helped him so much that Sweet Pea managed to convince him to bring it to school one day in the fall. It didn’t go over too well though.

Their new headmaster, mr Honey had made a scene asking, in a very condescending manner, what accomodations Jughead needed for his condition and wondered why it wasn’t stated in his student file: It earned him more than a few snickers and whispers in the hallway. It broke Sweet Pea’s heart to see his boyfriend slope his shoulder and retreat back into his old shell. It didn’t help that they didn’t have any morning classes together meaning they wouldn’t see each other till lunch. 

“The teachers are treating me different...like I’m gonna break or something.” Jughead whined as he sat down at their usual lunch table. “I’m like a porcelain doll, good for nothing!” 

There could have been awkward silence, but both Betty and Veronica opened their mouths to protest, and would probably somehow have made the situation worse Sweet Pea guessed, but Archie beat both of them to it.

“Nah man you’re grumpy as fuck, you ride a motorcycle and you have a badass cane. Now all you need is a medical license and you’re practically dr.House.”

Jughead smiled for the first time that day, and and for the first time in a really long time, Sweet Pea was thankful for Archie Andrews. He might even start considering him a friend. Unless he starts to show him his demos, Sweet Pea was NOT down for that.

* * *

Toni wanted to bling the cane. There was no refusing her, so the cane ended up having a painted snake wrapped around it, as well as a little crown on top. She at least had the decency not to make it a bright colour. Jughead said it was silly, but they all knew he secretly loved it. 

He ended up using it almost full time. It didn’t take the pain away of course, but it made it so much more bearable. Whereas before he had days where walking was almost out of the picture and he had to lean on Sweet Pea or Fangs or Archie or whoever was around, he could now walk on his own even on the bad days. He was still in pain, but it was manageable now, and no one was happier about that than Sweet Pea, except possibly FP. Even though he couldn’t help but hate Penny with every inch of his body for doing this to his precious Jug, he knew he had to accept the reality and that all he could do was to be there for him.

And so he was. They all were. Because after all, no serpent is left behind.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
